Trust One To Know One
by jotnar
Summary: Tony Stark thought that Loki was dead and gone, gone away to a place where he wouldn't be able to bother Earth with his hare brained schemes anymore and his magic (give Stark science any day). That is until Loki unexpectedly returns from beyond the grave with a gem and running for his life, then Stark learns that it is not just Midgard but the whole of creation which is at stake.
1. Prologue

Chapter one

"It is time to set my plan in motion," the flickering static said, "our deserter has been weakened, and now not even his brother will be there to protect him when it comes to… procuring what I seek…"

The Other nodded in haste, "to set the fire going now would be the right thing, my lord."

"I will be on Per Ardua, and I would see you there as soon as possible. Do not delay in making this journey," the static continued, then the hologram switched off and the static faded to silence.

Everything was beginning to be set in motion.

They were far away from the nine realms, a long distance from the Greater Magellanic Cloud where the Kree lived, even further away from the Andromeda galaxy and the Skrull Empire. This was a meeting not to be shared with others, even with beings that were allies of the mad titan, it was too delicate and meticulous a matter to be discussed with a great many people, even those at the Titan's beck and call.

It had been a sudden meeting, but one that the Other had been expecting for a long time now, for the enemies of the nine realms were gradually gathering strength and getting ready to strike where it hurt most. It was almost time for Asgard to fall and for a new age of the universe to begin.

They met on a cold, barren world far from any intelligent civilisation. The sky was dark and mottled with inky black clouds so high in the sky that even the great, huge mountains that surrounded the dank valley serving as their meeting point did not poke up above them. An ominous mist hung in the air, but, then again, it always did on these worlds, long abandoned by their native inhabitants, either on purpose or from the great volcanic upheavals that continually threatened to consume the planet. They were to meet in a small clearing, far away from any sign of inhabitants in a dense forest littered with the stench of death. A fitting place, it seemed, for the purpose of their meeting.

The titan was already there when the Other stepped into the clearing, and he quickly fell to his knees. His master was not someone to provoke, the Other had seen that first hand many a time.

"The traitor still lives... He is hiding on Midgard while his brother thinks him dead."

"What would you have me do to him?" The Other replied, a plan already forming in his mind. "I could order his death easily enough, he will not be expecting us to strike. His silver tongue can only carry him so far, and not everyone was fooled by his disappearance. Let me send out a small party of my Chitauri, their skills will make sure he remembers his death."

"I can see that you are ready to end his life, but that is something I myself must do. Anyway, I do not know where on that rock he is hidden, and the time gem is still in his possession, though he is no closer to procuring the others, and the gauntlet is still out of both our reaches."

"You would let him gather the gems then what? Take them? My lord, I would not disagree with your judgement but we have already seen his schemes once, and have been fooled one too many times."

The Titan paused for a moment in thought before replying, and then turned back to his kneeling servant with a grin, beginning to pace around the clearing.

"Though I am more intelligent, he is much slyer than I will ever need to be. Asgard possesses two of the gems, and only an insider will be able to gain access to them at the moment. He will be expecting our eventual arrival, but probably not for some time. He believes that the Avengers would have warded us off striking Midgard indefinitely, and it is that mistake that will cost him his life. Right now, he does not have the strength to control the gems, and possessing only one does not give you enough power to hold off me."

"But he will still know when we arrive, and the mortals will know what to do to defeat our forces if we mount a proper invasion."

"Then why not use some of his other enemies to lure him out. They can be easily manipulated, and once he falls the rest of my plan should play out without any more problems. I will get those gems, do you understand, they will be mine with which to shape the whole universe," he replied, emphasising the scale of his control by gesturing out with his arms and rising up even higher above his servant. He would control not just the realms, but everything the power of the gems could touch. He would control their lives, their minds. His army would be an unstoppable force with which to strike the whole of creation. There would be countless dead, countless willing lives that would sacrifice themselves without question for the greater good.

"You have my word, it will be done. Finding enemies will not be a hard task. I will focus on Midgard first, but then, if the deserter flees to other realms, I will employ the help of our allies in more far away areas already at your beck and call." They are itching for war, and " the Other said, and it would not be. Only a fool would not have the common sense to know that the traitor had enemies on both sides.

"And then," said Thanos, his face filled with malice, "Loki Laufeyson will be dead and after that the whole of creation will be mine."


	2. Tony Stark

Lights… Bright lights, shining directly into his face.

It was hot, incredibly hot

Sir…

He coughed, then again, then twice more after that. His head hurt, it hurt so much...

Sir...

"Yeah… what?" He mumbled, clutching his head.

Sir, I would suggest that you wake up. Sir!

"What!" Tony Stark replied. Eyes shooting open, he leapt out of bed and grabbed the nearest 'weapon' he could find, a lampshade. "Are we under attack? I thought this place was on lock down."

Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D is currently standing in the living room. He seems to want to talk to you, urgently.

"And you let him in?"

I tried to stop him, but he overrode my controls before I could shut down the building. He does not seem to be carrying any weapons with him, but there seems to be a number of agents stationed within a half-mile radius. I'm afraid there is no way to escape this without full on combat.

"Alright, let's go, might as well try to get an argument out of him," Tony replied, resigned, "and I need a drink before I go down."

"Ah, Stark, you took your time," Fury said as he stood in the living room, "I was beginning to think that you had bailed out on me."

"It's my house, my rules. I can take my time if I want to," replied Tony as he walked down the stairs, "now, pray tell, what the hell are you doing in my house."

"The doors were open, so I came in," Fury said, a slight smile ghosting over his face, "we need to talk."

"Then talk, I'm all ears"

"You've been drafted in on a matter of great importance."

"And… what is it?"

"You're going to have to come with us if you want to find out Stark, I'm afraid this information cannot just be told, it has to be shown."

"You S.H.I.E.L.D folk are always a pain like that. What's in it for me?" He answered, and then continued, "If you're asking me to come join the S.H.I.E.L.D payroll, it's not going to happen."

"I'm not here to ask you to join us, I'm here to ask you to help us," he gestured outside, where a black car was parked, an agent lazily leaning against it. "You need to come with me."

"As long as I get back before tomorrow and that you buy me some food on the way, I haven't eaten yet. Preferably something hot, dripping with fat and e numbers."

"That can be arranged Stark."

The journey was, relatively, short. A brief forty-minute drive, only stopped half way through when they passed a McDonalds, was followed by a half hour plane ride. They arrived at what appeared to be a military base in the middle of a desert. Large hangars were positioned erratically around the fenced off area, while a smaller, lighter looking building had been built in the middle of the base. The sun was fierce, and for a moment Tony lost his balance, blinded by the light and by the sand that was being whipped up by the winds that were criss crossing the dusty landscape.

"Follow me, Mr. Stark," called an agent as Tony jumped off the plain. He followed him over to the smaller building, where Fury was already waiting.

"We have to go down below," Fury shouted over the roar of the jets taking off and the whine of the wind, "in case you didn't realise, this is all top secret stuff we're dealing with here."

"Whatever Fury, you lead the way."

"You've lost your will Stark... You've lost your stamina," Fury said as they rounded another corner, "all this talk of retiring, you're just kidding aren't you?"

"Didn't know you liked me that much Fury, I wouldn't have thought you'd keep track of me to this extent," said Tony.

"As much as you know I don't like saying it, we need your help. We always did, really, but now more than ever." Fury replied, quickening his pace as they wove even deeper into the labyrinth.

Tony fought to keep up, "so you're telling me, the one that no one trusts, the one who hacked you

"I'm still annoyed at that."

"No, you're not annoyed at the fact that you were hacked," Tony replied, a grin breaking out onto his face, "you're annoyed that you still don't know how the S.H.I.E.L.D systems took so long to pick up on the fact that you were being hacked, and how I'm not gonna tell you now. Am I the only one you've asked to take a look at whatever your 'great discovery' is?"

"No, Thor has been drafted in on this assignment, but he doesn't seem to be able to make head nor tail of it. He doesn't even think that it's anything from the nine realms, or at least anything that's been recorded in the history books. To be completely honest, the only reason that you're here is that we had hoped you'd be able to make something out this…" He paused, searching for the right term, "this… thing."

"What is it then?" Tony asked playfully, "Do I get to keep it?"

"Follow me…" Fury replied as they reached a double set of doors. Having put a code in, they opened, and they both stepped inside into what could have been a different planet. It was a huge room, a gigantic room, filled to the ceiling with scientific equipment. Large, flat monitors jostled together on all four walls, their screens displaying alternate views of Earth, and of space. Periodically, they lit up, and all the scientists rushed over, whispering feverishly with each other. There was everything that anyone would have ever wanted to own, from small telescopes to seismoscopes that seemed to envelop most of the room.

"What did you find?" Tony asked, all humor dissipating from his voice, "What the hell did you find?"

"Change Stark, the whole of the galaxy seems to be shifting. Energy signatures seem to be appearing at random, not just here but on other planetoids and planetary bodies as well. Here, Titan, Phoebes, Jupiter, you name it; they are all experiencing these random energy patterns. They're unpredictable, in more ways than one. Just last week one of these occurrences managed to make a new crater on Mars three miles long. It only lasted two and a half seconds."

"And you…" Tony tried to reply, "you asked Thor about this? Has anything happened on the other realms?"

"Apparently there was an earthquake on Vanaheimr that destroyed a few villages, but otherwise nothing. Unfortunately we can't monitor the other realms like we can in the solar system, so the only news we get is by word of mouth. Right now, it only seems to be causing earthquakes, or the occasional storm. That tornado which appeared in Oxford last week, that was down to an energy fluctuation. What we don't know is whether these happenings are going to get worse, and how the whole debacle will develop."

"But you know that it'll bring?"

"Death, death on us all, if we're not careful. Which is why I'm asking you to regroup with the Avengers. We need a team based permanently in New York."

"I thought most known superheroes lived in New York, you're not exactly short of people to ask for help."

Fury glared at him, "we need teams that we know we can work well with, teams which we can keep informed quickly and efficiently. As you know, New York has been the site of many battles over the years, the most major being…"

…Being the battle of New York. I know, I was there; and we fought off the Chitauri without much help from S.H.I.E.L.D except for that nuke. But Loki's dead now, I didn't think that New York would be at such a risk?"

"It still is, which us why I'm asking you and the other Avengers to move there. Stark tower should be big enough for all of you."

"You're asking me to share my house with other people? Not just other people, but with four other people!"

"Yes," Fury replied, "until this is over, we feel that you should remain in New York and wait for our orders. And that, Stark, if your first order."

Eighteen months later...

"Who's taken my peanut butter again?"

"Will everyone please, just this once, please, be quiet!"

"Who's taken it? Come on, it has to be someone in the building. Why do these things always happen to me?"

For Tony Stark, the day had begun notably earlier than he would have liked it, and just as it normally did in the Avengers tower. With an argument, a tantrum, and an overall sense of impending civil war.

"This is the last time, the last straw," Tony muttered to himself as he grabbed a dressing gown and made his way to the lift. It had been over a year since the decision had been made for all the Avengers, at least the official Avengers, to move into what was previously Stark Tower, and at first it had seemed like a good decision. Earth's mightiest heroes being in close proximity to each other and to New York was supposed to mean that America would be better protected. Unfortunately, as with everything, there were side effects.

As with anyone, whenever they spend large amounts of the time with other people they were bound to encounter certain aspects of those people that they would have probably like to avoid learning about. How would Tony have learnt, if they hadn't been living together, that Bruce got up each day at 5am to practice yoga? How could he have guessed that allowing Natasha to mix their drinks was a really bad thing to do unless you wanted to wake up the next morning hanging from the ceiling and feeling like his head had been cracked into two with a sledgehammer? At least it had come to no surprise anyone about Barton's fixation on processed foods. What was the surprise was the extent to which he would defend and protect his 'food children'.

"Who's taken my peanut butter again?" Clint Barton shouted again from the kitchen. "I was cool the first time, a little irate the second time but I still forgave the criminal, but it's the third bloody time now and no one in this place seems to be able to grasp the concept of simply asking if they want to use other people's things. Just ask, or go buy your own!"

"Barton," Banner said calmly, "are you sure it wasn't you who ate it, I mean, you do remember the sleepwalking incident we had a few months ago?

"It can't be me because I started locking my door after we worked out who was taking the light bulbs, and I make sure to lock it every single night. I know it wasn't Natasha but… look, I'm not saying that it was Thor, but he was the last one in the kitchen last night…"

"And so, son of Barton, that does not mean that I automatically the culprit in this." Thor replied. "When have you ever seen me eating this butter of peanuts that you value so highly?"

"But you don't deny that you were the last one in there," Clint continued, starting to roll with the idea, "and I know you say that I haven't seen you eating peanut butter, but it was you in that delicatessen last week wasn't it?"

"What, now you are spying me just so that you can wrongly accuse me of being guilty of a crime that I did not commit?"

"If you haven't noticed, espionage work is kinda where I made my name, "and it was pure coincidence that I noticed you in the café…"

"Guys," Tony said as he finally made it into the kitchen, "guys," he repeated when no one paid any attention to him. "People!" He tried again with more force, "EVERYONE IN THIS GODDAMN HOUSE!"

"You could have just asked us nicely you know," muttered Clint.

"Please shut up," Tony continued after glaring at Clint. "It's seven thirty in the morning, I have a hangover, and I just wanted to sleep at least for another hour."

"We never complain when you get up early."

"That's because I never try to bring the building down with incessant shouting, I'm always quiet, unlike you. What's the big deal anyway? Jars of peanut butter are what… a dollar?"

"Not this jar, it was a special edition one."

"Oh come on!"

Lady and gentlemen, if you could be so kind as to direct your attention to one of the screens, it seems as though there's been a disturbance in the south of the city.

"What is it JARVIS?" Steve Rogers replied, concern suddenly on his face.

I'm sorry to interrupt but S.H.I.E.L.D seems to have just issued a level three alert, there seems to be a disturbance down by the docks.

"Everyone, I am sure that we will be able to resolve this issue later today, but, right now, we need to eliminate this potential threat," continued Steve, "we need to go now."

"Agreed," Tony replied, "then Clint, you can go buy some more peanut butter…"

Tony rushed out of the kitchen with the other Avengers and went over to where his suits were stored. It had been hard, at least at first, to get back in the swing of making suits again. The thought of officially retiring from being a superhero had, though he hated to admit it, crossed his mind more than once.

He smiled.

Retiring. What a very non Tony Stark thing to do. That was what really brought him round to starting afresh and a new, this time sans the arc reactor in his chest.

"JARVIS," Tony said as the helmet slammed shut, "let's go kick some butt."


	3. Loki Laufeyson

Wind swept into the restaurant. Again, and again, it drifted through the gaps in the doors and windows. The wind whispered into the glasses, poured its secrets out into the tabletops. It was morning now, and people were beginning to stream in from their hoes and from their late night shifts for some cheap, fast and extremely unhealthy food.

"And that concludes politics hour," the television blared. "Now, onto the sporting news, and what a marvelous tale we have to tell today ladies and gentlemen, for not only have the USA ice hockey team beaten old rivals Russia, they've gone and smashed their way into the semi finals, beating Norway three to one..."

The TV went dead with a popping sound, and then flickered slightly once, twice, before settling back to blackness. One by one the lights began to turn off. They burn brightly, for a second, before plunging the bar into darkness. Slowly, shouts of horror began to rise from the room and from the street outside. People were beginning to panic, rising up out of their chairs to make a way out of the dank place before collapsing again, clutching their chairs and closing their eyes tight, shielding their ears with their hands and softly moaning.

Now Loki could hear what everyone else in the restaurant could hear, the buzzing. It came in bursts, a soft, low sound was closely followed by the loud clanging sound, an almost electronic sound, which tasted of blood and of metal and which pierced inside of you. With the sound the cold had returned too. It bit at him, time and time again, its jaws snapping snap with surprising uniformity, the teeth springing open, ready to tear his flesh... It had come back with a bite, almost as bad as it had been in Svartalfheimr.

He could hear the voices again, at the moment just in the distance but growing ever louder with each passing second. They were in the restaurant now, drowning out the concerned voices of the people, and still they grew louder, stabbing at him with their sharp words.

"You're dying," the voices said mockingly, "and you know what's waiting for you when you do die. We all know. And to think that at one time you thought you were heading to Valhalla… Pitiful."

"No. I'm... Not... Dying. I'm not dying" He replied through his teeth, sucking in air and trying to breathe, "I healed, I'm... Fine. This isn't supposed to happen... I'm... I am alive... I'm... I healed, I'm am perfectly alright, go away!"

Another wave hit him, and he slumped now, trying to curl up but finding his body would not obey him. The buzzing was there, but the voices were even louder. They were practically inside him now.

"Fine?" Replied the voices, "Don't worry, we know you're 'fine', we all do... well we know your lies, silver tongue."

"Shut up! Go away! Do not try to control me, it will not work!" Loki tried to shout now, but it must only came out as a whisper.

As quick as the energy had come, it was now dissipating out into the atmosphere. The lights began to come on again. It probably hadn't. On Earth the energy signatures were small in size, usually affecting an area only around three kilometers in diameter, if that. It was a different story around the solar system, with whole planets being enveloped in the wave. But no one was supposed to know about that, not unless you'd hacked S.H.I.E.L.D files with an old computer and a piece of pineapple chewing gum, and some peanut butter, and not until the problem had become too great to disguise as just being cosmic microwave background radiation that had happened to pass through the atmosphere. Not until whatever was happening and whatever it was had reached Earth.

"Fen, dear... Are you all right? Fenrir!"

With a snap Loki Laufeyson was back in the present, and only now did he realise that he was doubled over, clutching his chest and gritting his teeth. He sucked in a breath, feeling it catch again and again in his knotted chest. The TV started blaring again, the reporter now having moved onto a story about a boy saving a dog, or something like that.

"Are you all right?" The landlord continued.

"I am absolutely fine," he replied, before adding quietly, "I am, aren't I?"

"Help me then," said the landlord, now almost exasperated, "we need to help the cops get the customers out of the restaurant, it's our self appointed duty, as it says in the small print. Otherwise they won't come back and you won't have a job. Tell them it's fine and that you're here to help, you're good at that."

"Because of course they cannot do it themselves, they don't possess a brain large enough to walk, do they? We all suffered; as unfortunately whatever this is does not discriminate against people of a lower intelligence. Let them do it themselves.

"It was you who applied for this job, and it was you who signed the contract. Help them, or otherwise I'll subtract this days losses from your wage, dear."

Loki looked around forlornly at the restaurant he was in, and thought how low he had sunk. This was not the place where riches to be found and tales to be hold, oh no. The hours were long, pay was meagre, it was only a small, rundown bar, located in the eastern part of New York, far away from anyone or anywhere of any importance, but still close enough to still learn people's secrets. Luckily those small facts swung very well in Loki's favour. Out of the way meant prying eyes weren't there to catch him, so he could keep out of the way and out of sight. Restaurant work was easy work; easy to get, easy to keep, and even easier to keep your head down while doing it.

He rung his hand through his now blonde and curly and shook his head once, twice and for a third time, trying to shake off the pain, and the fear. His hands were shaking, and he had goose bumps up his arms. He shook himself again, expelling the fear.

"Fen, customers need your help to get them out of here, get to it as soon as you can. Are you sure you're all right?" His boss asked again, bustling out of the bar and rushing the customers whom Loki was currently ignoring.

"I don't... Need any medication. I'm fine. Can't you listen to me?" Loki replied, glaring at the ceiling before squeezing his eyes shut again. "I'm fine, he repeated, but this time it was only a whisper, an assurance to himself. He leapt up and sidled out the bar, finally following the orders.

"Help me," asked someone in the distance.

"Whatever you say," he replied, "I'll be there."

After twenty minutes of ferrying out people who apparently weren't able to help themselves and explaining why it wouldn't be possible for them to take their plates with them, Loki found himself sitting at the bar once again, staring at the numerous bottles of spirits piled up on the shelves, his mind still whirring at the earlier event. It's getting more frequent, he muttered to himself, before putting his head in his heads and slowly sinking onto the table.

The TV was still on the same channel, but the reporter had changed now to another, younger, one, coming live from New York City. "I am here by the port reporting live on the battle between the Avengers and whatever's down there," she was saying, "may the Avengers save us all."

"I need to stop this before it's too late," he muttered into his fingers, "but I still don't have enough time…"

By the time he returned to his tiny flat, it was almost noon. Loki fumbled with the key to the door then slammed it shut behind him, locking the door again and then putting a padlock on the bottom of the door. He locked the windows and shut the blinds and curtains. Having sealed all the rooms, he walked to the bedroom, opening the third drawer down in the bedside table with a wave. Slowly, carefully he took out a gray, battered box hidden in a corner underneath some crumpled sheets of paper. He knelt down onto the maroon carpet, and placed the box on his knees. With trembling fingers he opened the lid and stared at the jewel held in the middle by the plum cushioning. It glowed like starlight, lighting up his whole being, although that may have been due to the fact that it was partly made out of the remnants of a neutron star.

"Let's see what you can do then," Loki said, speaking directly to the space gem, "you may be the key to saving everything."


	4. Steve Rogers

As much as Steve Rogers hated to admit it, especially to the press, going on dangerous missions, where the risk was high and there were bound to be casualties of some sort, was something that he really did rather enjoy doing. The rush of adrenaline through his veins, his brain kicking in the dopamine, the endorphins following just behind in those fight or die situations. The 'good soldier' image that the U.S. army, and subsequently S.H.I.E.L.D had projected to the world? That was all lies, it was shattered the moment Steve went into combat. S.H.I.E.L.D had tried to resurrect that when he had come off the ice, but Steve still had the same morals that he had had before he went under all those years ago- do the right thing, whatever anyone else thought, and if that went going against orders, so be it.

Right now they were sweeping around New York, on the way to the ports on the outskirts of the city. The route had been turned into more of a detour, as the area close to the ports had been closed off from all incoming traffic, including traffic currently located a thousand feet in the air.

"Cap, I've got an eye on the site," Tony's voice emitted suddenly from his earpiece, "looks like we've still got movement down there. How far away are you?"

"Five minutes at most, we're just coming around towards you. Is that right Clint?" He directed the question towards the front of the jet where Clint was piloting, "it won't be too long will it?"

"Yeah, don't worry Tony, you won't have to suffer without us for too long a time, we'll be right with you in just a jiffy," Clint grinned, turning the jet towards the port and signaling to Natasha as she adjusted the controls.

He glanced out of the window out onto the city. "So, Stark, what's it looking like down there, the readings we have are still a few minutes behind," Steve continued.

"Well heat signature's holding pretty well so far, so at least it's stable... But... Whoa..." Tony's voice suddenly paused, and a hint of anxiety creeping in.

"What is it?" Steve said, "What's going on where you are?"

"Looks like things are still going on down there," Tony replied, "I've got to go, bring me good back up support okay, I'm gonna be counting on it."

"Stark! Do not sever contact with us now, we have not properly established intel on the situation!" Natasha shouted, flinging her hands around in annoyance, "Stark!"

"Bye for now, everyone!" Tony replied, his communication wavelength slowly fading to low frequency static as he disconnected from the jet.

"Natasha, can you see what's going on down there?" Steve continued, directing his question towards the co pilot.

"Information's still a little hazy, but what Stark said seems to be correct, whatever was down there in the first place, it's still alive and kicking."

"Got any word from Thor?"

"Not yet… seems he's still not gotten used to his earpiece, or so he'll say. Bet you he fried it by accident and is too proud to ask for a new one."

Steve shook his head, exasperated. "So, we go down there and crush them before they can get out into civilian areas?"

"Sounds like a plan, Cap," Clint replied, adjusting a few of the glinting controls in the cockpit before slowly beginning to adjust the steering wheel. The jet began to descend, and Steve had another chance to survey the view of the city before another gleaming skyscraper swept across the window.

"Got any word from Banner?" Steve asked, adjusting himself in his seat as they prepared for landing. As per usual, Bruce Banner had excused himself from joining them on their mission, citing an extremely heavy workload and some important research that had to be done on the topic of intermolecular expansion, whatever the hell that was Steve always thought to himself. Bruce would always show up in one form or another, eventually.

"None so far Cap," Natasha replied, "but I'm sure he'll be here soon."

Now the plane was in its final descent, and everyone's ears began to 'pop' as they started lowering to the ground. The sounds of crashes could already be heard through the windows.

"I'll put us down just past the site," Clint called, "don't want this baby getting dented too soon, I still need time to break her in properly."

"Clint…"

Their ears started buzzing as the sound of Tony's voice came back into the world. "Uuh… full update here, it looks like it's Doctor Doom who's causing all the kerfuffle but…"

Whoosh! There was a small crash, followed by a couple of bangs, then the whole of a pile of containers burst into flames. Then they exploded, throwing bits of steel, carbon figure and smoldering clothes right into the path of the jet. It shuddered for a moment as Clint desperately tried to steer the plane out of the path of the debris, then jerked as a bit of steel got caught in one of the jet's turbines.

"Looks like we're going down guys!" Clint shouted as they braced themselves for impact, strapping themselves in any lowering their heads onto their knees. Steve made sure that his shield was secure, placing it between his knees and clasping both hands onto its outer rim. The plane spun for a few seconds before thudding into the gravel next to the main area in the ports, only coasting along the ground for a few seconds before coming to an abrupt halt.

"Everybody all right?" Steve asked, looking around the jet and at his fellow teammates, "yep? Let's go."

Everyone clambered out of the now open hatch at the back of the jet and onto the ground. Surveying the area for a few seconds, Steve noted that while on the inside the plane didn't look too damaged, it would take one heck of a paint job to get rid of the long scratch marks that were now running down its sides, bits of steel still sticking out at various points. What was truly mangled was the left propeller, half the turbine blades must have been struck off during impact and on landing, and it now more resembled a modern art sculpture interpreting 'the meaning of life' than anything useful or functional. Smoke was coming out of both turbines, but luckily it didn't look like it would explode too soon. Steve walked around to the other side of the plane to where both Natasha and Clint were standing., surveying the cloud of dust now gathering over the port.

"Heard anything from Stark?"

"No," Natasha relied, "not that I would have expected any, either the dust's taken down his comms or he's busy trying to save the day all by himself."

"Hey, I heard that!" The sound of Tony's voice suddenly came into their ears, "and I'm not like that. Anyway, I trust you've all survived your little excursion."

"Stark, what's happening down there?" Steve replied, fighting the urge, as he always did, to put his hand over his ear.

There was static for a few seconds, before there came, "well I'm no expert, well I am, but I think that it's both Doom, or at least his robots and the Kree. And you'll never guess what they're doing."

"What?" All three of them replied at once, credulous expressions on each other's faces.

"Well I'm guessing one of them has offended the others mother, and now they're going at each other, all laser guns and combat."

Steve shook his head, "you're kidding right? Weren't they best buds just a few months ago, you know, work together, defeat the good guys kind of business?"

"Evidently not anymore," Natasha replied, "and we still need to go down there and neutralize all the threats before they tear this area apart."

They agreed, and, after parting ways in order to be able to cover as much area as possible, Steve found himself on top of an empty container. He waited, surveying the fighting enemies below, and was about to make a move before a bolt of lightning came rushing through, electrocuting both forces.

"Steve!" Thor shouted up to him as he landed in the middle of the pile of bodies.

Steve jumped down off the container, "Stark says that Doom's forces are fighting Kree down there. What have you seen?"

Thor looked at Steve with a bemused look on his face, "Starkson's words are true, our enemies seem to be wanting now more to fight each other than to fight us. I say that they've made a good choice otherwise we would have crushed them all by now." He paused, surveying the situation unfolding around them, "but I suppose that there is still time for us to make a dent in them, don't you think?"

"Agreed."

It didn't take long until all but the strongest of the enemies had been subdues. Steve wove in and out of the haze of the battle, flinging his shield to and fro and deflecting the incoming bullets. Now all that was left was the two small groups fighting in the middle of the port, surrounded on all sides by piles of containers.

"Crew," Steve called out, listening to everyone's replies, "you ready?"

He launched into the battle, immediately taking out a doom-bot with a swift hit to the head. Thor followed behind him, using Mjolnir to sweep enemies off their feet at every turn. When the doom-bots and the Kree soldiers realised that they were not alone, most turned their attentions to the Avengers rather than each other, though some still stayed in pursuit of their former allies. Eventually there was only one of them left, a Kree warrior. It surveyed the Avengers with menace in its eyes and started to gear itself up for what it thought was going to be a long, hard fight. Then Clint hit it in the shoulder with a silver arrow.

For a moment it was still, then the Kree warrior looked down at its chest and at the arrow poking out. The skin around it had already started to bloom a dark purple, and it fell to the floor, wheezing. Using this opportunity, Steve ran forward and pushed his shield into the chest of the Kree, binding it to the floor.

"What was your purpose here?" Steve asked the Kree warrior, pressing his shield slightly harder into the creature when it didn't answer immediately.

It wheezed for a few seconds, trying to catch its breath. Steve pressed harder, and his team around him poised their weapons.

"The gem… the gem is here and it is rightfully ours. He… he said so. We just needed to go find it… but… he said that the sly one had it, that he was hiding in this… city. "

"Who said so? Who told you about this gem?" Thor asked, "Who gives you the right to try to harm the planet I protect to get this?"

"He goes by many names. And he will be here soon, and then we will return and have all the…" he paused again, coughing and wheezing, "all the power in all the universes… more power than you could ever, ever imagine. Then everyone will die."

The warrior began to laugh manically, and then started coughing again, so that all could be heard was a rather distressing wail. Then, slowly, he stopped making noises, and eventually went limp. Steve looked around at his teammates, his friends, then slowly started backing away from the body of the Kree warrior. No one said anything to each other as they headed out nearer to the bay, neither did they say anything as the S.H.I.E.L.D clean up crew arrived.

"You all look like a sight for sore eyes," Bruce said cheerfully when they had gotten back to Avenger's tower, "well none of you are dead so I'll assume it went alright."

"They are after the infinity gems." Thor said quietly, heading straight for the sofas, "someone must have told them about them."

"And those would be?" Clint replied, heading into the kitchen to find the alcohol, "what, exactly?"

"The Infinity Gems are the remnants of one of the earliest beings from the time of the universe's creation. Feeling lonely, it split itself into six different fragments, with each individual gem associated with a particular facet– power, space, time, mind, soul and reality. Together, they can be controlled by using the infinity gauntlet, which is kept by my father in the vaults of Asgard. The cosmic energy that you called the 'Tesseract' is also known as the space gem, and is also protected. As for the others, they are scattered across time and space, waiting for the day that someone brings them together."

"What would happen then?"

"It would mean the end of the universe, if we are not careful."

"So you're saying," Tony replied, "That if we let whoever's in charge of this operation get all the gems… we're toast? Great." He sidled off to the edge of the room and poured himself a stiff glass of whisky from the cabinet. "And while we're having this conversation, that may be what's causing the EMPs… possibly. We still need to work those out you know."

"Yes Stark," said Steve, "that's exactly what'll happen. Thor, you don't happen to have a device that can locate these things?"

"No such thing exists, and most gems are pretty much impossible to track without being in possession of any gem oneself. I think that that is kind of the point."

"Oh, joy." He replied, and with that Steve sat down on the sofa. It had been a long day, and what looked like a simple job had turned into something much more complicated now that they had to contend with these gem things. "So, one's on Earth and now everyone and his mother wants to get it."

"And who was that person he mentioned?" Clint said from the corner of the room.

"The leader?" Natasha replied.

"No, the 'sly one'. Sounds like they're the one whose got it, so, we find them, get the gem, and use it to locate the other ones!"

To Steve and the rest of the Avengers it sounded like a plan, albeit a vague one.


End file.
